The Global Health Workforce Alliance has published the official report of the Third Global Forum on Human Resources for Health. Below are extracts from the executive summary, I have also added the report’s 10 point agenda, together with (for comparison) the 7-point agenda from our pre-Recife discussion on HRH here on the HIFA forum (HIFA was the official platform for global discussions in the weeks leading up to Recife).

Human Resources for Health: foundation for Universal Health Coverage and the post-2015 development agenda http://www.who.int/workforcealliance/knowledge/resources/report3rdgf/en/

‘This report describes the proceedings and main outcomes of the Third Global Forum on Human Resources for Health, which was jointly convened by the Government of Brazil, WHO, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Global Health Workforce Alliance in Recife, Brazil, from 10 to 13 November 2013. The event, organized around the theme of Human Resources for Health: Foundation for Universal Health Coverage and the Post-2015 Development Agenda, provided an opportunity to bolster political commitment and to update the human resources for health agenda, to make it more relevant to the current global health policy discourse, including the push towards the health Millennium Development Goals, the universal health coverage objective and the post-2015 agenda.’

‘In addition, countries and human resources for health stakeholders were invited to make explicit commitments related to human resources for health to accelerate efforts on their national health development agendas as the basis for an inclusive mutual accountability framework.’

‘With 1800 participants and attendees from 93 Member States, including more than 40 ministers and/or deputy ministers, the Third Global Forum was the largest ever human resources for health event. The conference had a dual nature: a technical event to share new evidence, best practices and lessons learned among experts and planners in human resources for health; and a political one to galvanize the support of policy-makers.’ […]

‘The Third Global Forum showed that the global community must significantly and ambitiously raise the bar in its efforts: aiming much higher in terms of the political will, good governance and financial and other resources committed to address challenges related to human resources for health. A holistic agenda on human resources for health instrumental to attaining universal health coverage will require interconnected efforts at the national and global levels in support of four main areas of action:

• anticipate and adapt to new challenges;

• articulate ambitious targets with a long time horizon (10–15 years), including producing larger number of health workers and establishing benchmarks for the performance of higher education and employment;

• broaden participation in policy development and response beyond the public health sector by engaging other key constituencies and sectors and create accountability mechanisms to support and oversee implementation; and

• innovate through more efficient and rational planning and use of financial and human resources in the health sector and towards more results-focused implementation. […]

‘The Recife Political Declaration on Human Resources for Health, adopted by representatives of Member States attending the Third Global Forum, was the ultimate outcome of the event and enshrined these principles, marking the beginning of a new era in human resources for health. The Recife Declaration recognized the centrality of human resources for health in the drive towards achieving universal health coverage. It reaffirmed the vision that all people everywhere must have access to a skilled, motivated and facilitated health worker within a robust health system; it committed governments to creating the conditions for the inclusive development of a shared vision with other stakeholders; and it reaffirmed the role of the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel as a guide for action to strengthen the health workforce and health systems. Further, it identified a range of actions, including improving planning, education, management, governance, information systems and the adoption of innovative approaches, to be implemented in accordance with countries’ contexts and needs. The political statements made in the Recife Declaration, matched by the more than 80 commitments by WHO Member States and Global Health Workforce Alliance member organizations, are the best measure of the success of the Third Global Forum on Human Resources for Health in bolstering political commitment for the health workforce agenda and represent a shared platform and common startingpoint for further policy dialogue and action on developing human resources for health in the years ahead.’ […]

‘The report presents a 10-point agenda [for action]:

1. Recognize the centrality of the health workforce in translating the universal health coverage vision into improved health care on the ground.

2. Assess the gap between the need for a health workforce, actual supply and the population’s demand for health services.

3. Formulate human resources for health policy objectives that encapsulate the vision for the health system and services.

4. Build the data, evidence base and strategic intelligence required to implement and monitor the policy objectives and to sustain effective management.

5. Build and sustain the technical capacity to design, advocate for and implement policies.

6. Build political support at the highest level to ensure continuity in the pursuit of universal health coverage.

7. Reform the governance and institutional human resources for health environment.

8. Assess the cost of the various scenarios of health workforce reforms.

9. Encourage international partners to focus their support and to report on their official development assistance for building the capacity of health systems.

10. Encourage international partners to address transnational issues and strengthen global human resources for health governance, collaborative platforms and mechanisms.’

It is interesting to compare the 10-point agenda from Recife (above) with the 7-point agenda below that emerged from HIFA discussions before Recife (HIFA was the official platform for multi-stakeholder discussion in the run-up to Recife).

‘1. Funders should think more long-term

2. Support expansion and improvement of community health worker programmes

3. Governments should assume responsibility for HRH planning

4. Strengthen professional associations

5. Strengthen education and training

6. Address needs of laboratory professionals

7. Strengthen management and leadership.’

A 2-page summary of our discussions on HIFA is available here:

http://www.hifa2015.org/wp-content/uploads/GHWA-HIFA-Discussion-on-HRH.pdf 

Best wishes, Neil

HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is the coordinator of the HIFA campaign (Healthcare Information For All) and co-director of the Global Healthcare Information Network. He is also currently chair of the Dgroups Foundation (www.dgroups.info), a partnership of 18 international development organisations promoting dialogue for international health and development. He started his career as a hospital doctor in the UK, and has clinical experience as an isolated health worker in rural Ecuador and Peru.  For the last 20 years he has been committed to the global challenge of improving the availability and use of relevant, reliable healthcare information for health workers and citizens in low- and middle-income countries. He is also interested in the wider potential of inclusive, interdisciplinary communication platforms to help address global health and international development challenges. He has worked with the World Health Organization, the Wellcome Trust, Medicine Digest and INASP (International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications). He is based near Oxford, UK. www.hifa2015.org  neil.pakenham-walsh AT ghi-net.org